Customer Reviews

Conan - The Complete Quest

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

First, for those that are just looking for this answer, this Conan the Barbarian is The Director's Cut with its alternate ending, which John Milius intended to have. Nowhere on this DVD will you find the original ending in the DVD extras, etc., but I do want to say that this ending is not much different from the original, so if you have not seen the original ending, you will not be missing much at all. It also has an additional scene with Subotai and Conan dialoging. That's all that I remember being different from the original version. As for Conan the Destroyer, I don't recall any difference.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE NEW TO THE CONAN CHARACTER:

Conan is the barbarian/warrior character created by writer Robert E. Howard (1906-1936). His stories take place in the Hyborian Age (a mystical age between the sinking of Atlantis and the beginning of civilization, which was created by Howard as well). Much of the Conan artwork was painted by artist Frank Frazetta (1928-), which is probably Frazetta's better-known work.

John Milus' own liberal interpretation found on his Director's Commentary of Conan the Barbarian says how he thinks Howard created the Conan character and the warrior's many tales, that he conjured in his mind, a dead warrior king bearing an axe, and soon felt as if his character actually oppressed his very thoughts, forcing him to tell the tales of Conan, a king long forgotten by mankind and that he feared that if he did not write as the warrior commanded, the warrior king would strike him down with his axe.

The real story on how Howard came up with the character can be found on The Official Robert E. Howard Website at [...], where they quote Glenn Lord's The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert Ervin Howard

The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert Ervin Howard

FOR THOSE WHO ARE NEW TO THE CONAN MOVIES:

Only two movies have been made up till now on Howard's character, Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984). Most people (as I am) are fans of the first, and not the second, though the second was entertaining in its on ways.

No joke, Conan the Barbarian is my All-Time favorite movie. I first saw this film when I was young, and remember that back in those days this movie was "the movie to see", with its action packed storyline, wonderful cinematography, and its beautifully composed musical score. Not to mention, starring Mr. Olympia himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred in both films. Conan was Arnold's first big-time role after winning his last Mr. Olympia in 1980, so Arnold was still gee-golly-huge and ideal for the part. Nevertheless, this first movie also starred renowned actor, James Earl Jones, who plays the very charismatic cult leader, Thulsa Doom, and with a voice like his, who can deny that he's the perfect fit for that role.

Oliver Stone (a fan of the Conan novels) co-wrote the first screenplay of Conan the Barbarian. He actually had an entire screenplay for the movie, which was quickly bought out by producer Dino DeLaurentis and modified by writer/director, John Milius, who also co-wrote and directed Red Dawn. John envisioned on making Conan a trilogy, while assistant producer, Edward Summer, intended the Conan films to be a huge series, much like the 007 series. Either of which would have been nice for us fans, but neither person played any part in the creation of our only sequel. Instead, two writers from Marvel Comics were brought onboard, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, who wrote the initial screenplay for the sequel, which was drastically changed by writer Stanley Mann. Director Richard Fleischer, who also directed Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970 and Red Sonja in 1985, directed Conan the Destroyer. I think the only thing the two movies shared in common were Arnold and producer Dino DeLaurentis; this is why you find extreme differences between the two finished works.

On another note, many celebrities co-stared in these movies, like NBA star Wilt Chamberlain, and model Grace Jones. But one person out of the rest, whom I would like to point out, is Hawaiian Gerry Lopez, who plays Subotai in the first film. Gerry is actually a world-renowned champion surfer, and from an early age in his life, he read many of the Conan novels. With Gerry's features and his great appreciation of Howard's work, it was difficult for old friend John Milius to find anyone else as a better fit for the role of Subotai. Gerry Lopez also co-stars in Big Wednesday (another work of John Milius) and North Shore, which are both classic surfer movies, next to the Endless Summer films.

MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE CONAN DIALOG:

To bring you up to speed, early on in the movie Conan was enslaved and bought to be a Pit Fighter. After countless victories, his master takes him to the Far East for breeding (yes, I said breeding). As a reward for his success, Conan was given an education in eastern philosophies and was taught the art of swordsmanship from the eastern masters.

And so, in the next scene you see some sort of general talking to his men. He says to them, "We have won again. That is good! But what is best in life?"

One of his men replies, "The open steppe, fleet horse, falcon on your wrist, wind in your hair!"

"Wrong!" replies the general, and then asks, "Conan, what is best in life?"

Which Conan replies, "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!"

... that's just wicked man.

WHAT'S IN THIS SPECIAL RELEASE:

One DVD Disc

SIDE ONE: Conan the Barbarian
Widescreen version (2 Hrs, 11 Min) in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Bonus Materials:
Commentary with Director John Milius and with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailers
The Making of Conan
Special Effects
Archives

SIDE TWO: Conan the Destroyer
Widescreen version (1 Hr, 42 Min) in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Bonus Materials:
Theatrical Trailer

I almost did not buy the 2 movie package because I saw the reviews stating that conan the destroyer is not in 16:9 ratio..
Well for the price i bought it anyway since I wanted both movies.
Both Conan's came in letter box wide screen format..
Someone is confused..
Both movies look pretty good on a 47" widescreen HDTV. Shading is a little off, but every outdoor movie is off do to sunlight..
My main point of this review is to tell people that do not waste your money on 2 seperate movies by the box set and you will be more then happy.

In Conan the Barbarian, while Conan is not entirely presented the way Howard wrote him, the film is nonetheless well done and extremely entertaining. The points of straying from Howard are many--the appearance of other Cimmerians besides Conan in the story, the prefiguration of Conan's kingship (a plot device taken from L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter's apocryphal entries into the series, and Conan praying, along with scenes taken from other Howard creations besides Conan--though for the most part, the movie actually tracks Howard's vision fairly closely. Of course the movie opens with Nietzsche's most famous quote and the plot turns Conan into a Nietzschean superman capable of overcoming appalling odds even though he is only a man and not a superhero. James Earl Jones gives great support as the Jim Jones-like cult leader Thulsa Doom (actually a villain out of Howard's Kull series), while Ben Davidson, Sven Ole Thorsen, Mako, Gerry Lopez, and Sandahl Bergman all serve effectively variously as friends and enemies. Late in the movie, Conan suffers in a way cleverly reminiscent of Howard's original creation then goes on to a swashbuckling finale and climax against Doom's followers. The end of the film--in keeping with the tone of the film a combination of Howard and Nietzsche--is very satisfying and beautifully done. While the sequel is much lesser and deserves no in-depth mention here, the first Conan movie is a fine entry into the sword-and-sorcery genre and should be more highly regarded both in its genre and among movies in general.

Pick up the individual Conan the Barbarian SE release, but don't support this lame packaging of that disc with a non-anamorphic release of Conan the Destroyer. I was excited about picking this up, but declined once I realized that Destroyer was not enhanced for widescreen televisions. Would it have killed the studio? What a disappointment.

Bah, a thousand deaths to the fool who would place disgrace on these films.

Although both CTB and CTD do not follow Robert E. Howard's stories very well, they are good in their own right. However, Conan the Barbarian has the luster of a diamond when compared with Conan the Destroyer. The first was created to play like an epic Wagner opera, with a great soundtrack by Basil Poledouris set against the story. Arnold's accent only enhanced his capabilities to play Conan, making him perfect for the role. Conan's quest to avenge the deaths of his parents leads him through love, loss, magic, and mystery as he traverses Hyboria. Conan The Barbarian was obviously unintended for young viewer's eyes, as blood and gore are abound in the first movie, amongst other things... This however, is where The Destroyer differs.

Conan The Destroyer was unfortunately dumbed down from it's predecessor to a hack and slash adventure that fell into the B' movie category. It has it's moments, and luckily Poledoris returned to do the score for the movie. But it didn't hold the magic that the first had.

Ultimately, the only movie you need to see of the series is Conan The Barbarian, but since this DVD comes packed with both films, why complain? At such a great bargain, this is an offer that even Crom would not pass up. So what are you waiting for? Buy it! Buy it now!!

It's true that the packaging could be better, I wish it wasn't a double sided DVD, I really hate those. However you are getting two movies for $10 and one of them is the special edition version so there is very little room to complain.

Conan The Barbarian is a phenomenal fantasy movie; not much like the Howard stories is still a very fun movie to watch. The documentary is nothing to write home about but it gives you some nice insight into the making of this classic.

Conan The Destroyer has always been too campy for my taste. The only thing I like about it is the action scenes and the great soundtrack which I consider to be far superior and more memorable the original score.

The movie content is fine if you're a Conan fan. If you buy this DVD, read my advice here. On side one (Conan the Barbarian side) there is a defect in track 13. My first copy froze up totally on this defect spot. Amazon's replacement had a slight pause in the exact same place. So if you buy this go directly to scene 13 on side one to be sure the copy you bought plays OK. If anyone knows how to pass this defect info onto Amazon, be my guest. The movie Conan the Barbarian also has a different ending compaired to the movie I saw in theaters long time ago. The different ending is OK I guess. Just the added content didn't add to or take away from this picture. I actually liked the original ending better myself.

I invariably credit Robert E. Howard as the genius behind Conan however, this film by John Milius is brilliant in it's own right. Look, if I summed this movie up in one word, that word would be 'EPIC'. You will feel like you like you've just landed yourself somewhere in the Euro-Asian Steppe before the tides of history washed upon mankind. The version I bought was the Complete Quest which carries both Conan movies. Conan the Destroyer (the sequel) has more of that goofy 80's pizzaz that I recall growing up with but don't knock it until you try it!
Also note that the soundtrack is by Basil Pouldoris. The Conan soundtracks are arguably most superlative movie soundtracks of all time. Basil Pouldoris ties in his magic to give this Conan what I call infinite watchability...these movies never get old no matter how many times you see them. All the characters have some extremely memorable lines that you will grow to love. Schwarzenegger himself is the epitomy of the laconic philosopher with a stoic warrior approach to life but even he breaks out some killer lines. Hell, I just wish Arnold would do a third Conan instead of playing politician.

I have been a long time fan of these movies but this DVD release leaves much to be desired. The picture quality was OK, but the mono sound tracks come off as depressingly flat. The music in these movies originally was stirring and should have been again today.
The scenes added to "Barbarian" are out of place and undercut a main theme of the movie. Those scenes were cut for good reason; I liked it much better before it was "improved".
Stick with your old VHS if you have to.

I'm the type of guy that doesn't say very much...unless of course I feel I have something important to add to the discussion. That's probably why I don't write many reviews; however I must throw in my two cents regarding "Conan - The Complete Quest". There are several complaints here about it being double-sided and/or the fact that Conan The Destroyer is included. Before I go any further, let me just say that I've watched CtB, but have not watched CtD yet. From what I read, it's not very impressive. But that's OK because CtB is...it's easily a five star fantasy/action flick. By the way, this set includes the Collector's Edition of CtB, so it's got the best version currently available (with a few extras and a cleaned up picture). That being said, why complain when this set costs the same as CtB by itself? They're both at bargain-bin prices, and this is the better deal, yet it has a few moronic reviews which brings the rating down. If you must, just think of CtD as a really cool bonus feature. And the fact that it's a double sided disc is nothing to whine about. As long as it plays fine, that's all that matters. Touch the disc by the edges (like you should be doing with all DVDs) and you won't have to worry about smudges. If you already own both movies then obviously this set isn't worth your money, but if you have neither then this is the cheapest/smartest way to own the "Complete Quest".